One River

I like to take a walk after supper in the evenings. One summer night I was particularly eager to go out and find some high ground. It was a special evening. The sun and a full moon were both overhead at the same time. The sun was about 30 degrees above the horizon in the West, and the moon was at the same elevation in the Southeast. A time of much power.

I found a good vantage point, in the middle of a quiet intersection. I was in front of a house that had a garden full of strange vegetation. I had seen it many times on my walks but I could only guess at the species being grown. As I stood directly in the centre of the solar and lunar influences, I felt a presence. I looked down and noticed another man also standing in the middle of the street. It was obvious that we were both there for the same reasons. We laughed and greeted each other. He was a rugged looking person with a god-like beard and a ready smile. He had a PhD in Botany and was a specialist on psychotropic vegetation. We had a spirited conversation, in which I learned much.

The book I will speak about is, One River by British Columbian, Wade Davis. He is also the author of, The Serpent and the Rainbow. That book was made into a movie and is about the Voudoun religion of Haiti. Wade is a native of Vancouver and he probably was a source of inspiration for the man I met watching the moon and sun. Wade studied botany at Harvard, and his mentor was Richard E. Schultes. You may read Schultes’ obituary at https://www.serendipity.li/dmt/schultes3.htm. Wade and a colleague followed in Schultes' footsteps, through some of the most remote parts of Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

Amazonian Afternoon

One River tells about those scientific adventures. The book is a fascinating blend of memoir, field notes, recollections and history. To all this, add geology, geography and much humour. Mostly, it is a naked tribute to Dr. Schultes. If you look at the Latin names of South American species of vegetation, many have the name, schultesii. You will learn the history of the rubber industry in this text. You will also learn about the critical job done by Schultes for America's rubber program. You will be amazed to learn how much we all depend on this commodity. During the Second World War, after the conquest of Malaysia, America had only three months supply of rubber. Schultes was sent to the jungle by the American government with orders to find new varieties of wild latex. The book also chronicles some of the brutalities that were inflicted upon the aboriginals of South America by greedy foreign rubber barons.

By the real life example of Schultes, we learn that it is possible to achieve a dialogue of mutual respect between a Harvard scientist and a medicine man from the Vaupés River. You will learn about coca, ayahuasca (yagé), peyote, teonanacatl and all kinds of psychoactive vegetation. A most intriguing thing: Schultes learned that aboriginals classify vegetation in an entirely different way than scientists do.

There is a type of psychoactive vine in Colombia. According to the locals, it has many varieties, but no differences can be detected by our modern methods of taxonomy. One variety gives you a vision of being a condor and it is appropriately named for this effect in the local dialect. Another variety turns you into a jaguar and yet another was described thus, "It is like being shot out of a rifle that is lined with Baroque paintings and falling into a sea of electricity."

A native South American can distinguish these different varieties of the vine at a distance of twenty-five meters. Schultes tried many of the substances and his most usual comment was, "I see colours. Nothing more." He did not allow malaria, beriberi, hostile natives, bureaucrats or waterfalls to stop him. He never carried a weapon. Enjoy this wonderful book!

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